


Determined Resignation

by zinke



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-07-21
Updated: 2006-07-21
Packaged: 2018-09-17 06:40:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9309854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zinke/pseuds/zinke
Summary: Time to tell the President.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So, I haven’t written a fic in…hm…well, you get my drift. On top of that, I’ve never done WW fic before. So, consider this an ‘out-of-retirement-for-my-rookie-season’ kind of thing. Thanks to Amara for the beta, because beta-ing makes everything better.

"Josh, you can go ahead in, now."

Josh's eyes snapped open and he inhaled sharply. Levering himself up from the wall he'd been leaning against, he gave a quick nod of thanks to Debbie before walking into the Oval Office.

Shutting the door behind him, Josh turned to find the President seated in one of the side chairs, reading glasses perched at the tip of his nose, perusing a file. "You asked to see me, sir?" he asked with an uncharacteristic tentativeness. 

"Come in, Josh, have a seat," the President replied, eyes never leaving the file's contents as he waved in the general direction of the couch opposite. Josh took the proffered seat, sitting stiffly as he awaited the President's attention. 

What felt to Josh like an eternity later, the President raised his eyes from the typeface to consider his Deputy Chief of Staff from over his glasses. "CJ just handed this to me, Josh," he said, raising the closed folder as an indication. 

"Yes, sir. And, if I could—"

"Josh," Jed interrupted. "Leo says you've found a guy?" Josh blinked stupidly several times, obviously thrown by the question. Sensing the younger man's disquiet, the President assured, "It's not a trick question, Josh."

Josh grinned sheepishly before replying, "Yes, sir, I have. Congressman Matt Santos."

"Patient Bill of Rights?"

"Yes, sir," Josh replied, the only betrayal of his anxiety the brevity of his answers and the tightness of his posture.

Jed nodded slowly as he mentally reviewed the little he knew about the man who was taking his Deputy away from him. "I thought he was planning to retire from public office after his term expired."

"He had been, sir. I... may have convinced him otherwise." Off Jed's questioning eyebrows, Josh continued, "I presented him with a nine-point plan." 

"Of course you did," Jed said with amusement. His smile faded, however, as he considered the man before him. "CJ wants me to tear your letter of resignation in half, and then allow her to, how did she put it? Ah yes, take a frying pan to the side of your head so that she can knock some sense into you."

"Sir, I—"

"Now," he continued as if Josh hadn't spoken, "Leo thinks that you've been itching for a fight like this for a while. He seems to think there won't be enough legislative grappling in this administration's final year to keep your interest. That you are the man the Democratic Party needs to help ensure its ninth year in the White House."

"Sir, Hoynes will never beat Russell for the Democratic nomination, and Russell will never be able to garner the votes needed to beat Arnold Vinick."

"And you believe that Matt Santos, a junior Congressman from Texas, who hasn't even begun to raise funds for a national campaign, is a relative unknown on a national level, and who is significantly left of moderate, is the man who can win the party's nomination and the Presidency?"

 

For the first time since entering the Oval, Josh visibly relaxed as a cocky grin curled his lips. "I do sir. And as you know, I do have some experience in getting dark-horse candidates elected to office."

The President merely nodded, fingering the edge of the file folder he still held in his hands. "Tell me this, Josh. Is this man worth putting down the crossword puzzle?" 

Josh sobered as he remembered that night so many years ago, sitting in a dark VFW hall in New Hampshire. He remembered little about that night other than the seven words that had changed the course of his professional life: 'Yeah, I screwed you on that one'. That, and the thrill he felt as he slowly realized that he'd finally found the candidate he'd been searching for.

The same thrill he felt as Matt Santos detailed the brilliant maneuvers that had duped Congressional Republicans into allowing passage of a bill that actually meant something. "Yes, sir. I think he is."

"Then go to it," Jed said with a smile as he rose from his seat and stretched out his hand. 

Josh took it, squeezing tightly as he watched the President with apologetic eyes. "Sir, I do want to say that this decision—it's not one that I've made lightly."

"Go, Josh, and make me and Leo proud. That's all we've ever truly asked of any of you, really, and if you need to leave here to do it..." 

Josh smiled uncertainly, letting go of the other's hand and nodding even as he turned for the door. "Yes, sir. I'll try." 

Jed merely stood, smiled beatifically at Josh's retreating figure, waiting until the door had closed before speaking softly in the empty room. "There's no need to try. You already have."

 

*fin.*


End file.
